Closer
by WastedHeart
Summary: During a night of playing drunken party games on the Normandy, 'best friends' Shepard and Garrus get picked to share seven minutes of heaven together. Lots of tension ensues. Originally written for the ME Kink Meme. Rated M for smuttiness and set during ME3.


**This another story I originally wrote for a prompt on the ME Kink Meme, featuring 'best friends' Garrus and Shepard getting picked for a round of seven minutes in heaven. I've toned down the language a teeny bit from the original. For me through, it's still quite explicit and definitely rated M for a reason.**

**As always, feedback is welcome and much appreciated. I don't get much time to write any more what with holding down multiple freelance jobs so it's good to know what people think of the little bits and pieces I'm churning out.**

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The empty wine bottle spun round and round on the floor of the Normandy lounge, taking its sweet time to select a second victim. Everyone's eyes were on it, but Shepard watched with particularly rapt attention, having endured the misfortune of being the first person it pounced upon. Glinting in the harsh overhead lights, it slowed to a leisurely prowl before stopping directly in front of Garrus.

Joker let out a loud whoop. "You got lucky, Commander."

"Yeah," said Vega. "Scars is a real catch."

Most of the people in the room seemed gleeful at outcome, even EDI in her own quieter way. Shepard was not among them. Rather, she was repenting the entire events of the evening. She regretted telling everyone to have the night off from the war effort and then joining the group who had ended up drinking in the lounge. Above all else, she wished she hadn't been unwise enough to stick around even when they started playing Seven Minutes in Heaven, a game more commonly enjoyed by horny teens than Alliance officers.

Because of her lack of judgement she was going to spend seven minutes shut up with Garrus, her best friend. The guy she fantasised about late at night when she was naked and spread out on her bed in the dark of her quarters. The only person she deliberately avoided being alone with for more than a few minutes for fear she might do something more than friendly and sour a fantastic relationship.

Garrus, for his part, didn't seem sure of how to react to the whole incident. The expression on his face proved difficult for Shepard to read despite her usual adeptness at understanding whatever was displayed there. Could it be revulsion? God, she hoped not. Fear? Not exactly. Nerves? Possibly and she didn't know what that meant.

"The two of you should be way more excited about this," Joker said, eyes moving between them, trailing mischief as they went. "You're getting to spend seven minutes alone together with free range to do whatever you want."

Garrus shook his head. "This is without a doubt the dumbest game I've ever played. It's even stupider than that 'never have I ever' thing we were doing a few minutes ago. There's no element of challenge for one thing. Turian drinking games actually tend to be competitive and exciting. This on the other hand is just…weird."

"I very much agree with you," Shepard said. "Don't worry though; we can just talk to each other. The seven minutes should go by in no time."

Vega let out a laugh. "Sure, Commander. _Talk._ We all believe you."

"Vega…" She glared at him, putting all of the fire she could still muster after dousing herself in alcohol into the gesture, unfortunately to little end effect.

"Ah-ah," he said. "No stalling with lectures, Lola."

"I concur," chimed in EDI of all people. Previously, Shepard had been pleased that she'd been enjoying partaking in 'human bonding rituals' so much, but with that comment she was getting way too into it all for her tastes. "By the rules of the game you and Mr Vakarian must now be confined together. I will personally escort you to prevent one or both of you from attempting a bid for freedom."

"Come on, EDI," Shepard said. "Not you too."

"Will you assist me in bringing them there, Mr Vega?" EDI asked.

A shit-eating grin formed on his face. "With pleasure."

Flanked by the two of them, Shepard found herself being marched alongside Garrus down the hallway of her own ship to the closest appropriate venue for their confinement – the life support room. It seemed to have shrunk and darkened since her last visit, leaving it half as large and half as well-lit as she remembered.

Reluctantly, she started to pass through the doorway just as Garrus attempted the same thing and, given their tipsy state, they collided. A pang ran through her body as they touched, but she managed to almost completely ignore it. She'd learnt long ago to drown the sensation out since it invariably happened whenever they had any kind of contact with each other.

"Sorry," he said.

"It's alright," she replied. "My fault."

She positioned herself against the lone table in the room while Garrus leant against the wall opposite leaving a respectable enough two metre gap between them. Vega inspected them, his attempt at adopting a serious demeanour considerably undermined by the childish grin still dominating his face. "Do you think we should stand guard, EDI?" he asked.

"I don't believe that will be necessary." She turned towards Shepard and Garrus. "I am going to seal the door in a moment and will sound an alarm if you attempt to leave earlier than specified time. Mr Vega and I will return to collect you in seven minutes precisely. I shall begin the countdown now."

"See you soon," Vega said with a wave.

The door slid shut, its lock immediately tuning a rich red shade. At the same time, the overhead lights in the room dimmed further, leaving Shepard and Garrus bathed in a strange dusky glow that either EDI or Vega must have thought would be romantic for them. Shepard wished she didn't sort of agree. She really was far, far too close to Garrus than was wise and there was no way to put some sort of barrier between them or simply make an excuse or turn tail like she usually did whenever she felt the urge to grab hold of his torso and refuse to let go.

Only once, about a year before, had she come truly close to breaking and propositioning him. As they'd chatted in the main battery, he'd told her a story about blowing off some steam with a recon scout in the turian military and the words, "I could help you ease some tension", had begun to form on her tongue. However, she'd swallowed them down again in the end, deeming it better to keep the boat steady rather than risking rocking or wrecking it by forcing unwanted interspecies attention on him.

The temptation was even worse now. They were both tipsy, verging on drunk in her case at least. He looked damn good standing across from her in a black and silver suit and she knew how perfect he was on the inside as well. _God_. She could watch him all night and be perfectly content, but he would likely find that more intrusive than enjoyable. Then again though, he was looking right back at her. Huh.

"So this is incredibly stupid," he said, his hand running over the collar of his shirt. "I could hack the door control, but I have a feeling EDI's retribution will be severe if I do, so I guess we're stuck in here. I wish I had something to calibrate to make the time pass quicker."

She smiled at him. "Poor, Garrus, I know just how you feel. There are so many reports lying on my desk that I could be reading right now. I'm afraid we might just go mad in here."

Both laughed, but the sound she made was almost entirely made up of nerves rather than any genuine mirth and his laughter died quicker than usual. "I suppose we'll talk," he said. "Just like you suggested."

"Yeah. Of course." Talking was fine. Satisfying enough in itself. Well, usually anyway. "So what do you want to talk about, Garrus?"

"Anything, really."

"Right…" She set off on a desperate search through her muddled brain for an appropriate topic, finally saying, "What about the mission on Lesuss yesterday? We never did have a proper debriefing and it certainly was dramatic, even compared to all the shit we've been through together lately."

"Dramatic's one word for it, Shepard. Creepy would be another. I've had enough of dark rooms and banshees for quite a while. Who thought building an Ardak-Yashi monastery deep in the mountains would be a good idea?"

"An idiot, I'd wager. All that stuff with Samara and her daughters was pretty damn intense as well."

"At least Samara and Falere survived it all, even if Rila didn't make it."

"For a while, I was worried we were going to lose all three of them. I was glad you were there to keep me company…" The sentence trailed off awkwardly, but caught it again before it could get too far away from her, "And Vega too of course."

"Yeah. Yeah. Of course. He's a good guy. Or at least I thought so until tonight. Now I'm not just as convinced."

She laughed softly. "I suppose we'll learn to forgive him in time. He pulled off some good shots off during the mission so I'll award him kudos for that. You did too of course, Garrus. As usual."

"I aim to please, Shepard, but you were pretty impressive yourself out there. With the way you kept weaving in between enemies, it wasn't like you needed much help from me or James."

"I wouldn't say that. I seem to recall being cornered by two of those damn banshees until you sniped one of them. You really had my back then." She couldn't help but capture his eyes with hers as she remembered the mix of relief and triumph he'd had on his face when the creature had finally gone down inches from her feet. "But then you always, always do."

"And I always will. No matter what happens. Your back worth is well worth protecting. So's your wonderful front." A strange chocking noise she'd never heard before escaped his throat. "Wait...that didn't come out quite right. Must be all those shots of turian brandy I had in the lounge. I don't mean to overstep the line and make you feel uncomfortable. Especially not given our current, uh, strange situation."

"You haven't," she said quickly. "Not one miniscule bit. I liked what you said, Garrus. A lot."

No more words passed from one to the other for a couple of beats, but their eyes stayed locked across the red haze of the room regardless. She realised they were less adrift from each other than before. Her back had left the safety of the table at some point during their conversation and she could see he was no longer standing so tight to the wall.

"How long do you think we've been crammed in here for now?" he asked, eyes flitting briefly around the place only to return to rest on hers once more.

"Honestly, I'm not sure. We're probably almost at the halfway point."

"So we still have to make it through a few more minutes stuck in here with nothing to focus on but each other. Or the walls I suppose, but they're considerably less interesting than you. It's hard not feel a little…pent up."

"Certainly is. But then that's how the game is meant to make you feel, isn't it? Two people are crammed together, whether they like it or not, so they feel increasingly tense – especially if there's any sort of attraction there - and the sole outlet they have for that tension is each other." She left a deliberate pause to feel him out, watching his face closely. "Maybe they give into it. And if they do no one else can see or judge what they get up to in the end. It will stay behind the locked door and between just them."

"Do you think most people, uh, do stuff together when they're picked?" He seemed to be trying to study her reactions as well. "Or not?"

"Given that it's mostly played by horny teenagers, I'd say almost all of them do more than talk."

"Makes sense I suppose. Why waste a good opportunity to get some action at that age? Or, uh, at any age really."

She nodded slowly in a clear show of agreement. "I suppose it is very tempting, particularly if you really like the person. If they're always there when you need them. If they make you laugh even when everything around you is going to hell."

Another few inches between them disappeared. "Shepard, am I wrong or do you want what I…" he said. "No. No. Never mind."

"Don't stop there." She spoke quickly, voice crammed full of the hope that maybe, just maybe she wasn't misreading him and what he wanted right now was her, human or not. "Finish the sentence for me, Garrus. Please."

"I don't want to say anything might regret in the morning when I haven't been drinking and don't feel like your eyes are going all...shiny, warm and pretty every time you look at me."

"I'd wager a considerable amount you won't have any cause to regret it."

"No?"

"No," she confirmed. The gap separating them was nothing more than a lone inch now. "You can say anything you want to me. Do anything you want to me. And I won't mind." He took in a sharp intake of breath. She couldn't blame him for being shocked; she felt a bit so herself after saying something that crossed the friendship line after so long spent behind it. "You always could have," she added for good measure.

"You really mean that, Shepard? It's not just the drink talking?"

"I mean every word. But you don't have to say anything at all to me, if you're still not absolutely sure you want to. You're my best friend, Garrus. And you can stay just that if you prefer and we'll pretend this part of the conversation never happened. We can blame it all on the alcohol and being stuck in here, and even though we'll both know neither was really the whole cause, we'll never say that. I won't chase after you. I haven't so far. In some ways I can see that it makes more sense for us to be friends since..."

Out of the many reasons she could think of to use, she wasn't sure which one was going to lead with, but she didn't have to finish anyway. "Shepard...stop," he said firmly, reaching out for her. Then suddenly she was in his arms, their foreheads were resting on each other's and he was all she could see and feel. Her body practically ached for him and she felt no need to check the feeling.

Not this time.

Their mouths met in what initially only a chaste kiss, but rapidly became something far bawdier. Her lips parted and his tongue pushed between them, tangling with hers. Kissing him felt different from what she'd been become accustomed to in her previous brief and largely unsatisfying dalliances with humans. His lips were firm, almost hard, his tongue long and rough - especially when compared to hers - and, yes, it was all slightly odd, but nonetheless, she couldn't recall ever enjoying a kiss this much.

At least a full minute had gone by when they finally parted. Likely even more. "How did you learn to kiss like that, Garrus?" she asked, breathless and so woozy she might have lost her balance had he still had her body enclosed in his arms. "Turians don't kiss."

"Ah...okay." He looked guilty for a moment. "Honestly, I've occasionally been watching some turian/human vids in my off hours. I've wanted to try kissing you for so long."

"Same here. To both things actually."

"You should have said something."

"You're right, but it's not like you did either, Garrus."

"Your my commanding officer…it would have been so awkward."

"Well, I just thought you wouldn't be interested in me. We're different species, different chiralities even."

"Let me assure you, I am very interested. And I'd say from that first kiss we're perfectly compatible." His voice lowered. "Let's carry out some more testing though."

He kissed her again, just as deeply as the first time. She began to caress under his fringe, knowing full well it was an extremely sensitive spot on turians. In retaliation, he placed one of his big hands on her ass and squeezed none too gently, talons lightly digging into her flesh.

The door lock clicked and turned green. At the same time, the lighting returned to its normal higher level.

"Shit," she said and flung him off her just as the door slid open to reveal their two jailers had returned.

"Times up kids" Vega said, standing in the doorframe with a silent, but clearly curious EDI behind him. "Well, well what happened in here?" he asked.

"We talked" Shepard said. Technically, that wasn't a lie. They had talked. They'd just done other things as well towards the end. "It was a productive conversation."

"Very productive," Garrus agreed. "I felt we really made some good progress on the last topic we were discussing in particular."

"Aha." Vega gave them a long up and down look. "But if you just 'talked', why are your cheeks are so flushed, Commander?"

"I am curious to know that too, particularly because I'm reading elevated heart rates in both of your bodies," EDI 'helpfully' added.

"We started to get hot since it was warm in there," Shepard said, while Garrus nodded along to her words. "That is all."

Vega smirked. "If you say so, Lola, I guess we'll have to take your word for it. I know I wouldn't want to risk being accused of insubordination by disagreeing with you. Everyone's gonna be disappointed to hear so little went down though."

EDI gave one of her stiff nods. "Yes, Vega and I along with several other crew members expressed the hope that the two of you would finally give into the blatant sexual tension we have frequently observed between you."

"Never mind," Vega said, moving out of the doorframe so they could exit. "I suppose you're free to leave and re-join the party."

He started to head back towards the lounge and EDI promptly followed. So did Shepard, albeit reluctantly with Garrus trailing even further behind her back. Seven minutes alone with him had proved to be nowhere near enough in the end, despite her initial misgivings.

After only five steps forward, her feet refused to go any further and the rest of her didn't see any point in arguing with them. "You know I'm quite tired after all that…excitement," she said. "I think I'll head to my quarters and relax."

Garrus immediately stopped too, hovering behind her. Vega and EDI turned to face her. "You sure?" Vega said. "We started playing strip happy families while you were both incarcerated. Kenneth is doing so badly he's down to his pants and one sock already."

"How do you...no, never mind. I'm definitely too tired for any more games. Sorry, Vega."

"Well, good night then, Lola. Sleep well. C'mon, EDI. Garrus."

But Garrus didn't move, instead looking at her entreatingly, clearly hoping she would throw him a line so they could continue what they'd started. She promptly did of course. "Perhaps you'd like to come up and finish our conversation, Garrus?" she suggested. "I feel like we'd just reached a critical point in it before the seven minutes ran out."

He smiled. "I'd like that. There's certainly more I was hoping to say."

They both went for the elevator controls, pushing the button for her quarters with uncharacteristic aggression at the same time.

"That must have been one amazing conversation," Vega said, trailing after them along with EDI.

"It was," Shepard replied. The doors opened and she pulled Garrus inside with her.

"Enjoy finishing it...just don't go too loco with each other. Remember, we need you both fighting fit tomorrow."

"Watch out for signs of chafing as well as any strange tingling," EDI added. "It is statistically extremely unlikely to happen but it might mean you're having some sort of an allergic reaction to each other's fluids."

"EDI!" Shepard said, just as doors closed. Even as the elevator started to ascend through the ship, she could hear Vega's uncontrolled, high volume laughter below her feet.

"I think it's pretty safe to say they know we're not just planning to talk," Garrus said. "And that they'll tell the rest of the crew we headed up here together."

"Sounds like a fair assessment. I would rather everyone doesn't…picture us together, but never mind even if they do. See on balance I'm pretty sure not finishing what we started back there would bother me far, far more than being the subject of some idle gossip. I very badly want to see it through to its natural conclusion."

"Me too. I don't know what I would've done if you hadn't invited me up. Maybe used up the entire ship's supply of water taking an hour long cold shower."

"I would never have even contemplated being that cruel to you, Garrus. Not after the way you kissed me. And touched me. And got me so very hot and bothered…"

Tugging insistently at his cowl, she pulled him to her, and they were back to kissing while their hands wandered wherever they damn well felt like. Soon they progressed further onwards to actively and determinedly trying to undress each other.

By the time they reached the fifth floor, Garrus' upper half was entirely uncovered and Shepard had lost her shirt and a boot, though they did still have enough wits about them to make sure none of the clothes ended up travelling up and down through the ship on the floor of the elevator. They pulled each other into Shepard's room, clumsily making it down the stairs to sleeping area, at which point she pushed him up against the nearest wall and attacked the fastenings on his trousers. He retaliated, launching a full-frontal assault on her bra. In short order they were both stripped completely bare, the remainder of what they'd been wearing flung around the room and left to decorate the floor and various items of furniture.

Shepard's body had become far more accustomed to being encased in layers of armour than fully exposed to another person in any sort of intimate setting, but she didn't feel even a hint of discomfort at being so suddenly naked in front of Garrus. She got caught up in enjoying his newly revealed form, drinking in all of his pronounced angles with a thirst that had built up slowly over months and months.

"Still absolutely sure we're compatible now you've got to see a hell of a lot more of me?" she teased, draping her arms loosely around his shoulders. Given that his groin plates had shifted open while she undressed him, revealing him in all of his glory, the question was purely academic in nature.

"Hmm." He gave her body a long appraising look, eyes lingering particularly on both her breasts and their erect nipples. "I'd say so. But what's your assessment, Shepard?"

"If anything I'm more convinced than I was before."

"Guess we're in complete agreement then. That's very good."

Using the same strong arms that sometimes dragged her into cover on the battlefield, he lifted her up and strode forwards with the sole aim of carrying her over the last few feet to the bed. She nuzzled the side of his face on the way there, then left a kiss on his cheek as he deposited her onto the mattress.

Covering her body with his larger one, he climbed on-board after her. "I almost can't believe this is happening," he said, failing to keep his voice steady. "I've imagined having you underneath me like this so many times..."

So had she, creating increasingly elaborate fantasises around that one simple concept, picturing different settings, making up different explanations for how they'd finally come to be together.

"What are you planning to do to me now I'm here for real?" she asked.

Something ignited in his eyes, exploding like a firework. "I'll show you, Shepard."

His hands became very busy, setting out to explore the recently revealed territory of her body in far more precise detail. He mapped her collarbone, her breasts, her ribs, her stomach with gentle touches, light scrapes from his talons and even the occasional pinch or two, all the while making sounds of approval deep in his throat. When he reached down even lower, pulling gently at the curls he encountered there, she simply let her legs fall open, revealing her most intimate places to him for the first time. He made his way to them, parting and playing with her already soaking wet folds, though of course being mindful of his talons as did so. The look on his face as he touched her was full of desire - of need even - and so hot she could almost feel the heat radiating from it on her tender skin.

To her delight, he proved astute enough to hone in on her most sensitive spot, rubbing slow, deliberate circles over the swollen nub of just the right amount of pressure to send pleasure pulsing throughout her core. She let out a ragged moan, long and low, which became a gasp when his hand was unexpectedly replaced by his tongue. That felt even better than his fingers, and they had felt pretty fucking good.

"Garrus," she panted, eyes half shut. "How the hell did you get so…so damn _fantastic _at all of this?"

The licking ceased, his eyes slowly moving up to her face. "I watched a lot of vids. Very, very carefully. And sometimes took notes. I'm glad to see it finally paying off."

Question duly answered, he set back to work, lapping at her with renewed vigour while thrusting a single bent finger inside of her. She didn't interrupt him again, normal speech replaced by indecent moans and loud calls of "yes", "don't stop" and, in particular, "Garrus". Full coherency couldn't stay in place with her senses so overwhelmed by him. She came suddenly and much more intensely than any of the times she'd pleasured herself, desperately trying to force her brain to believe that her soft human hands were his bigger, turian ones. Her cries were so loud she would have worried about somehow being heard through all the decks stacked below her bed if she hadn't left behind all such concerns a while ago.

After, he simply held her, mumbling "I take it you quite enjoyed that?" and chuckling softly into her ear, his breath further warming the flushed skin there.

"Mmm." She brought her hand up to caress his fringe. "What on earth gave it away?"

"_Well_, you were quite vocal. Way more than a turian woman would've been, but in the best possibly way. I certainly liked listening to you…and tasting you. You taste so damn good, Shepard. I could have spent all night just doing that to you and been perfectly happy."

"Oh fuck, Garrus…"

Her grip on his fringe tightened and she pushed his head down to hers so their mouths could meet. She could taste herself on him and that made her even more turned on than before. As did the feeling of his erection poking insistently at her high.

"Garrus," she repeated, "Fuck me. Please. I need you inside of me."

"You do?" As she nodded, he gave a series of small, slightly stinging nips to her neck and collar.

"You're sure you're ready for me?"

"Completely. Don't make me wait, Garrus. Please."

"Now?"

"Now."

Without any further torturous ado, he obeyed, but taking real care over it, first pushing only the tip of himself inside of her then slowly, achingly slowly pressing further in, inch by delicious inch, until she was completely filled by him. He fit her so perfectly, stretching her open wide, but not so much so that it crossed over to being painful. All she felt was searing pleasure. Despite the difference in their biology, despite their species calling planets separated by a vast section of space home, it seemed as if the two of them had been built to find each other and join together like this. Not to remain apart with only longing to keep them company. They'd already spent too long like that.

Way too long.

"You fill me up so well, Garrus," she groaned. "_God."_

"You don't feel half bad yourself, Shepard. Soft. And wet. And warm…" He gave a shallow thrust which was still enough to make them both groan, before adding, "And perfect."

At first, his movements were all cautious and measured, but with her _very _positive response to encourage him on they soon gave way to something more forceful that spread her even further deliciously open. In near-perfect time with his movements, she pushed back against him. They didn't rush, giving themselves time enjoy the new, wonderful sensations previously denied to them. Both kept their eyes on the other as much as they could. And both shamelessly gave voice to their pleasure, Shepard in particular becoming louder and louder. But then she had zero desire to reign herself in. Garrus sure didn't seem to mind hearing how much she was enjoying having him over her and in her.

On and on they moved together, thrusts gaining a desperate, needy edge as they neared the end. She reached it just ahead of him, coming as hard and as blissfully – if not more so – than the first time, shuddering around him and urging him to follow her. So he did. His body visibly tensing above her, he pushed deep inside one last time, then let go with a hoarse cry of her name, filling her up with his warm release.

In the minutes that followed, neither of them could do much more than lie there, collapsed in a graceless mess on top of rumpled sheets with parts of their exhausted, sated bodies still tangled together.

It was Garrus who recovered enough to speak first. "I don't know about you, Shepard, but I'd say that was pretty good for an interspecies first time. You sure look like you had fun."

Wearing an obvious smirk, he took in the sight of her sprawled out beside him, covered in a sheen of sweat, with her hair a mess and a thin trail of his seed visible on the inside of her thigh. Though he often acted like cocky bastard, she'd genuinely never seen him look so proud of himself before.

"I certainly can't fault anything about your performance," she said, stroking the side of his face. Rather only highest praise owed was owed to him for it. "We should have done this ages ago, Garrus. I've wanted to since I got you on the SR2, maybe even before that. I should have just unplugged that damn calibrations console you were always tapping at back then, stripped naked and bent over it."

"That sure would've been a sight to behold." There was a pause and she had a feeling he was picturing exactly what she'd just described. "Mmm. I guess we'll just have to make up for lost time as best we can now."

"You're welcome to meet me up here any time. Well, any time when we're not supposed to be off fighting the Reapers and trying to save the galaxy."

"We're going to beat those bastards, Shepard. And soon."

A smile broke through the slight frown that had momentarily decorated her face. It still puzzled her how he could always get her to smile no matter what else was happening and yet, unquestionably, it was a talent possessed only by him out of everyone in galaxy. "You have that on good authority, I suppose?"

"The best. We've beaten impossible odds so many times before under your leadership. Why the hell wouldn't we be able to do it just one final time? You've got no reason to doubt we'll make it through this."

"Can't argue with that." And she didn't bother to try, kissing him instead.

As they parted he gave her neck a playful nip. "Damn right. And once it's all over we'll have a lot more free time and, if you still want to, if still want me, we can spend it all together."

"Oh, I'll want you. I have no doubt at all about that."

Snuggling close to him, she went completely limp and pliant again. "Thank you, Garrus," she murmured.

The words had almost been "I love you" instead, but saying that could wait for a later, though they probably wouldn't agree to stay locked up for too long. They already clearly wanted out. And if tonight was anything to go by, they'd be well received by him when they did emerge.

He chuckled. "What exactly are you thanking me for, Shepard?"

"For making me come hard not once, but twice. For just being here with me like this finally. For being you."

He nuzzled her, saying almost shyly, "Trust me, the pleasure was all mine."

"Could you do one last thing for me tonight?"

"Whatever you want, Shepard."

"Could you stay with me and just…hold me while I sleep?"

"Did I wear you out?"

"Totally."

"Alright then. I'll do my best." He shifted, placing the sheets over them both then pulling her to him. "I'd far rather stay curled up here with you, all warm and snug, than have to endure the along walk back to my cot in the main battery anyway."

Much like everything else he'd done to her that night, he proved adept at lulling her to sleep, holding her close and running his talons through her hair in gentle strokes until she gradually drifted off. Hours later, when she woke once more, his arms were still clasped around her, showing no desire to let her go anytime soon.

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**Thanks for reading :)**


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